Jerusalem24 – Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in Al-Ezzariya in occupied East Jerusalem yesterday afternoon.
17-year-old Fayez Khaled Mahmoud Damdoum was critically injured after sustaining a bullet wound to the neck. He was pronounced dead at Abu Dis Emergency Center, according to Defense for Children international-Palestine.
Damdoum was born on 15 July 2005, DCI-P confirmed to Jerusalem24, who has opened an investigation into his killing.
Confrontations erupted after Israeli forces stormed the town, a frequent site of Israeli raids, and directed heavy fire towards Palestinian youths. Two were injured as a result, including Damdoum.
Israeli forces have now shot and killed a total of 97 Palestinians in the West Bank this year, including 23 children. This marks a sharp increase over last year’s toll of 92 Palestinians shot and killed in the West Bank for the whole of 2021, and an average of 41 during the Netanyahu era.
In December 2021, the Israeli military changed its rules of engagement in the occupied West Bank, explicitly allowing its soldiers to shoot-to-kill Palestinians even if they are fleeing and presenting no danger.
Another Palestinian child, 7-year-old Rayan Yasser Suliman, died on Thursday after Israeli forces gave pursuit to schoolchildren in Taqu’ southeast of Bethlehem. An autopsy report is expected today to determine the exact cause of death.
